Hi all, a year later, and some insane stories gone, i'm back to ask another question or two..

So i bought my 1st kite (Elliot Magma 3.0) about a year ago, and i have had some great fun.. about a week ago, i decided to buy myself a x-mas pressie, so i got a Dakine harness, and a flexifoil bar. I'm intending to get a bigger kite soon, so thought i'd spend a little extra on both so i can use em with a bigger kite.

my main question is this..

Is there a way to rig my handles up to the harness? i think i remember seeing a kinda rope type thing that is apparently used for this, but i simply cant find another one anywhere. Also, how does it actually rig ip to the harness? the only reason i ask really, is that the bar will be great for land boarding, but when i wanna do some static flying/scudding, i'm sure i would prefer to use the handles. i have been told a bar can make the kite slightly harder to control.. is that correct?

any advice, or some links on where to buy these things, and how to rig em up are extremely welcomed..

thanks in advance..

Search around this forum, there are tons of posts that will help you out. And the line is called a strop, just search strop and you will find what you need.

excellent, thanks..

i have been searching for things such as "kite rope" and other obscure things they might be called.. knowing its called a strop, will help loads..

cheers again

Most handles will have either a line connecting the two handles in line with the main power lines or at least a pigtail out of the back of the handles in line with the power lines. All you need is some climbing rope and attach it to both the pigtails, you'll have to mess around a bit with lengths to get it to feel comfortable while you're flying. If there's no attachment points, simply wrap the climbing rope around the handles, once above the power line, then once below and then tie it off, make sure the knot's on the back of the handles opposite to the flying lines.

thanxs again.. yeah, i have the "pigtails" on my handles... i'll see if i can bodge something up using em, and hopefully see if i like it or not. if i do, i'll get me a strop...

do the strops come in a standard size/length? or are the buyable at different lengths?

Just cut a length of paracord, if you havnt figured this out already. Mine is 2 feet long but I tie it off at different points depending on the wind, low wind=long, high wind=short.

Hey NPW - why short for high wind? I'm still stropless but now (as of 20 minutes ago when I got a more suitable 'biner) starting the process. Wichard, pulley, climbing harness, 20 feet of paracord and a good assortment of carabiners.

I have it short for high wind as I find myself pulling the handles in absent mindedly so this prevents that, also it gives me more control as my hands arent way out there. Any you dont need as much range of movement to turn in higher wind. Good luck and Merry Christmas!

I'm a little late, but in case this helps...

http://www.coastalwindsports.com/HandleStrop.jpg
http://www.coastalwindsports.com/HarnessStrop.jpg

Strop length shouldn't be any longer than the range of motion would allow you for maximum left arm extension and right arm in and vice versa as if you wre flying without a strop.

And it's also dependent on kite size and/or aspect ratio- a smaller foil of low aspect ratio generally turns with less arm movement than a large foil with a high aspect ratio.

Making the strop too long doesn't help, cuz you won't be able to let the tension of the front lines be taken up by your harness spreader hook. BTW, use a Wichard 2673 QR and a pulley - don't just loop into your spreader bar hook. If things go wrong and it's pulling too hard and you're hooked in, you may not be able to unhook in an emergency.

krumly

Hi there,
I will make my own strop soon and I'm wondering if there is any kind of safety system when using the strop while landboarding.

Thanks

Tons of threads on this topic. Start searching on safety release, quick release, etc. And a whole threead on this was just started back on 8-15-10 by Gerryt.

krumly